Cub's Big World

Fri, Feb 28 2014, 12:52 pm

Cub's Big World

by Sara L. Thomson
Children's
HMH Books
Hardcover, 32 pages
$16.99

One day, Mom and Cub venture out of their den, and amid all the wonders Cub realizes how easy it is to lose Mom. Even the one thing that makes Mom stand out in a “white, white world”—the black of her nose—can’t be counted on: ermine have black tails, and seals have black noses. Illustrator Joe Cepeda continually reveals the landscape from different angles and with surprising colors; in the seal vignette, he looks up at Cub as she peeks through a hole in the ice into the green-blue water below. Thomson’s calm voice makes it clear that Mom’s absence is only temporary, so readers can snuggle up and relish this big polar world, gorgeously imagined.